31. Nova
31
NOVA
I didn’t have the words. Bryan was there. Amelia was there. And they wanted me. Me. I was in shock. They wanted me, the person Veronica had flown over a thousand miles to see just so she could humiliate me in person.
He was here, wiping my tears, holding me, telling me it was going to be okay. Telling me that his house wasn’t home if I wasn’t there.
I gulped in air, trying to settle myself. I was so tired of crying. At least this time, I wasn’t trying to throw up, but I was a snotty mess.
“I need a tissue,” I somehow managed to say.
“I can do that, hold on.” Bryan got up, and moments later, a wad of toilet paper was shoved in my hand. “It’s the best I can do right now.”
“This works,” I cried as I honked my nose.
“Nova,” Amelia’s little voice cut through the trauma fog in my brain.
“It’s okay, Amelia, I’ll be okay.” I reached out for her and grabbed her back to me. “Y’all came and got me for Christmas. This is the best Christmas present I didn’t even know I needed. Thank you.” I sniffed and blew my nose again. “How did you find me?” I asked.
“I do have your address for employment records, but you failed to give me your apartment number. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an apartment complex this big.”
I laughed. “This is hardly a big apartment complex. I thought it was small when I got a place here.”
“What do you mean? You thought it was small?” Bryan asked.
“You’ve never had to find a place to live among the masses, have you?” I tried to tease him. “There are apartment complexes much, much bigger than this, a whole lot more buildings. They almost look like whole towns. I guess they sort of are towns without shops. Did you…” My heart stuttered for a second at the thought of Bryan and Amelia actually going toward a door like that crazy movie. “Did you actually knock on people’s doors?”
“We asked a man walking his dog, and he told us to go away. He didn’t know you. And another person thought you were Jello. She was very confused, but she didn’t know you either. And we did knock on doors nobody answered. And then those people?—”
“Veronica and David,” I filled in the names for Amelia as she was telling me the story.
“And then those people were yelling, and Daddy asked them if they knew you and?—”
“Yeah, they know me. Knew me. I don’t know.”
“You never have to deal with them again,” Bryan said. His voice was so soothing. I wanted to wrap up in him and feel safe.
“That’s why I moved here. I took my horrible job as a way to escape from David. I stupidly thought I’d never accidentally bump into him in New York, of all places. But she brought him to my apartment. He knows where I live. Now they know where I live, and they know how to hurt me the most.” I clutched the pillow that I had been holding even harder.
“Nova, look at me,” Bryan said.
I had to blink away tears to see him clearly.
“They know where this apartment is.” He cast his gaze around before returning his eyes to mine. “They don’t know where I live.”
“So what if they can’t bother me while I work for you? We both know that it’s only going to last a little over a week.”
He shook his head. “You’re not understanding what I’m saying. You need to come stay with us, live with us, me and Amelia.”
“Do I get my own room? What’s your cook going to think? I don’t want her to think I’m trying to take her job.”
“No, you will not be taking Emma’s job, and she’s not going to think that at all. You have a job at Wentworth Academy. You know, I have contacts at Leeds, if you want to transfer there.”
“Are you saying you can pull strings and give me a better job?” I asked.
“I could make it happen,” he said.
I opened my mouth to say something, but my jaw hung open. Was he actually saying the words that I had been dreaming about, or was I so far gone in the pain over what Veronica and David had just put me through that I wasn’t comprehending him properly? Bryan wanted me to come live with them and he was willing to help get me a better job. This really was turning into a morning for unexpected gifts.
“You want me to live with y’all while I still work as a teacher?”
“Of course. I’m not going to ask you to give up your job.”
I opened my mouth and started and stopped a few times as I tried to formulate my next question. I wanted to throw myself at him and say, ‘yes, please.’ But I still wasn’t certain if he was asking me to live with him as his girlfriend or partner or asking me to live with them in their house and rent one of the rooms.
“I can’t afford a whole lot of rent,” I finally confessed. “This place is one of the cheapest in the area that I could find on short notice.”
“I wouldn’t be charging you rent, Nova. I’m asking you to live with us.”
I stared at him for several long moments. I was seriously fuzzy brained. I heard the words. I thought I understood him. But each time I tried to speak or say yes and get excited, a thick wall of uncertainty slammed in place around my comprehension. I had to be misunderstanding something. My jaw was probably still on the ground as I struggled internally to grasp what he was saying.
“I was planning on cleaning my kitchen today.” I gestured pathetically over my shoulder at my kitchen. “if you’re serious about me moving to your house, and I’m not going to be here for a couple of days, I absolutely have to clean and take the garbage out. This place smells off, and I can’t tell if it’s the garbage or if something’s rotting.”
“I can help with that. I can clean the kitchen and get your garbage ready to take out,” he said.
“Are you serious?” I asked.
“What I can’t do is pack your clothes for you. I don’t know what you want to wear. You’re going to want something comfortable. And you should probably pack a few things you can’t do without for the next day or two before I can get a moving crew in here to get your things. We can have you completely moved out before the start of the new year. What do you need help with?”
Bryan knelt in front of me and rubbed my knee. Amelia leaned against my shoulder. Just having them here made me feel so much better. But all of my nerves were up and dancing and freaking out all at once. This morning had been nothing short of overwhelming.
“I have to give the landlord at least thirty days’ notice, and I only have a week until the new year,” I said, my stomach twisting into a knot. “I still had to come up with another month’s worth of rent.”
“That will give us time,” Bryan said, as if it wasn’t a big deal. “How much of this furniture is yours? I’m sure we could find a place for it, or we could put it into storage. There should be room in the barn attic.”
He grimaced at my horrible couch, trying hard not to say anything overly judgmental about it.
“Considering I got most of this stuff off the curb, it can go right back to the curb. My bed is brand-new, and the mattress wasn’t cheap. I’d rather not toss that out. I might be able to resell it. But how much demand is there for a used twin sized bed?”
“We can take care of that. Your bed is only a twin? Why didn’t you get a bigger bed?”
I shook my head. “That’s the school’s fault. The room I was supposed to get with them—they even sent me pictures—was just a regular sized bedroom with a twin bed, a chair, and a desk. It looked a lot like a standard dorm room. So I packed extra sheets from home. I still had stuff left over from when I was in college and living in dorms. I didn’t have the budget to buy a bed, but I needed one. I wasn’t going to waste money on sheets when I already had some. Besides, they’re cute. They have mermaids on them.”
I squeezed the pillow and felt pitiful. I had been such a dope.
“I have mermaid sheets,” Amelia said.
“Of course you do. I guess you can have these too when I move in,” I said.
Bryan continued to rub my knee. “Are you feeling better?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Why don’t you go wash your face, and then maybe Amelia could help you pack while I see what’s causing that smell.”
“I can do that.” I started to chuckle weakly.
“What’s so funny?” Bryan asked.
I set the pillow aside and leaned forward so I was good and close to him. “Your mother is going to have an absolute fit when she finds out you’re housing the help.”
He barked out a laugh. “Mother is used to having live-in help. What will blow her blood pressure is my shacking up with the help.” He kissed the tip of my nose and winked.
I wanted to laugh and dance. I was already crying. This time, the tears were happy tears. He had confirmed everything with those little words. I wasn’t going to have my own room because I was moving into his.